Wiesel’s Reasons
Elie Wiesel has numerous reasons for writing his autobiography Night. All of the reasons that Wiesel wrote his world renowned memoir surround a central event, the Holocaust. He wrote because perhaps he thought that he would go mad and understand the madness of the event or to try and halt history from repeating itself. He also thought he might have wrote it because, ‘“Or was it simply to preserve a record of the ordeal I endured as adolescent”’ (Wiesel Preface vii). Because he survived he thought that because of his survival he must say something, that one day this brutal topic would be discussed and he needs to be a witness for it and that no matter how difficult it was talking about it, he had to let people know. One of the main reasons why he wrote a book was because he thinks that all books have a special purpose. The topic about the Holocaust and the Auschwitz Death Camp are widely studied in schools today and perhaps he will get better results than he did in the earlier decades. Lastly, he chooses to write the novel because he must be a representative for not only the survivors, but also the ones killed. Elie Wiesel gives many good, honorable reasons to write his true autobiography.
Assignment 2: Holocaust Web Search
Night Web Search
Background Information for the Holocaust
Use the following websites for a quick overview of the following terms and people. http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/
Topics to Know
Questions
Answers
Nazi Propaganda
Who is Joseph Goebbels?
List three things the Nazis did to ensure that their views were shown/heard in the most persuasive manner possible.
Dr. Joseph Goebbels was put in the position as the head of propaganda, soon he was appointed to the position of the Minister of Propaganda and National Enlightenment. The first things that the Nazis accomplished were to remove all people who could produce propaganda against the party. The second thing he did was he set up the Reich Chamber and Commerce which controlled almost every possible media outlet.
Kristallnacht/ The Final Solution/ Wannsee Conference
Kristallnacht was a series of pogroms where many Jewish owned places were damaged, looted and the windows all broken such as synagogues, schools and businesses. This was where it got its name meaning “Night of Broken Glass.” It started on November 9, but ended November 10 the next day in 1938.
The Final Solution was not only the deliberate killing of the European Jews, but much more. It was designed to send a total of the 11 million Jews in Europe to camps in German-occupied lands where Nazis would then begin killing them.
The Victims
Besides the Jewish people, list seven other groups were also targets/victims of the Holocaust?
Briefly tell the fate of each group under Nazi rule.
The Germans targeted many other groups such as: The Gypsies who were punished similar to Jews for they were forced to work to death and also were killed in large groups. The disabled people were told to be sent to special facilities in Austria and Germany where they would then kill the patients. After the invasion of Poland, the Germans sought to get rid of the entire Polish culture by executing all teachers and officials, putting men through forced labor, and sending them to death camps. Soviets that were captured by Germans were killed massively and only second to Jews. Blacks that were in Germany were not only exposed to segregation, but some were also used to use for racial experimentation. Jehovah’s Witnesses were sent to both death and concentration camps and were tortured by Nazis for their beliefs. Homosexuals were sought as weak by the Germans so they were put on trial and either sent to prison or concentration camps.
The Ghettos
Describe the three types of ghettos, their purpose, and locations.
Closed Ghettos were closed off by a wall or a barbed wire and used to probably get people weak before deportation. They were in German-occupied Poland or Soviet Union. Open Ghettos were not closed off, but had rules on if you could leave or not. They were located around the same places as closed ghettos and were probably just to keep the Jews in a known area. Destruction Ghettos were simply just standby points until Nazis just came and either killed them or deported them. Life was horrible in the ghettos. There was excessive starvation, closed living space, and widespread disease.
Concentration camps were mainly for people who the Germans saw as “enemies of the state.” They included: other politicians, homosexuals, Afro-Germans, etc. Death/Extermination camps were used for the main purpose of mass killings. Thousands of people died from exhaustion, starvation, or disease. The two different ways people were killed were either they were just shot or you were put in the gas chamber.
The Soviets were the ones that liberated the concentration and death camps. Hitler and other officials all committed suicide before the end of the war. 24 were charged and they represented the cross-section of diplomatic, political, economic, and military leadership. “Following Orders” was decided not to be a legitimate defense.
Assignment 3:Images of Night
Ghettos Disease Ridden and Small Housing, Starving, and Demoralizing Like a narrow alley with thousands of rats and as an elephant in a small cardboard box A crowded subway station during rush hour Killing In the middle of all the chaos
Table of Contents
James W. Night Assignments
Assignment 1: Reasons for Writing
Wiesel’s Reasons
Elie Wiesel has numerous reasons for writing his autobiography Night. All of the reasons that Wiesel wrote his world renowned memoir surround a central event, the Holocaust. He wrote because perhaps he thought that he would go mad and understand the madness of the event or to try and halt history from repeating itself. He also thought he might have wrote it because, ‘“Or was it simply to preserve a record of the ordeal I endured as adolescent”’ (Wiesel Preface vii). Because he survived he thought that because of his survival he must say something, that one day this brutal topic would be discussed and he needs to be a witness for it and that no matter how difficult it was talking about it, he had to let people know. One of the main reasons why he wrote a book was because he thinks that all books have a special purpose. The topic about the Holocaust and the Auschwitz Death Camp are widely studied in schools today and perhaps he will get better results than he did in the earlier decades. Lastly, he chooses to write the novel because he must be a representative for not only the survivors, but also the ones killed. Elie Wiesel gives many good, honorable reasons to write his true autobiography.
Assignment 2: Holocaust Web Search
Night Web Search
Background Information for the Holocaust
Use the following websites for a quick overview of the following terms and people.
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/
List three things the Nazis did to ensure that their views were shown/heard in the most persuasive manner possible.
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/propaganda_in_nazi_germany.htm
Wannsee Conference
http://www.ushmm.org/museum/exhibit/focus/kristallnacht/
Who attended and what was decided at the Wannsee Conference?
What was the Final Solution?
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/article.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10005477
The Final Solution was not only the deliberate killing of the European Jews, but much more. It was designed to send a total of the 11 million Jews in Europe to camps in German-occupied lands where Nazis would then begin killing them.
Briefly tell the fate of each group under Nazi rule.
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/article.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10007457
CLUE: Begin reading at “Targeted Groups”
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/article.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10005059
What was life like in the ghettos?
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/article.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10007445
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/article.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10005144
What were the conditions?
What different types of extermination were performed?
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/article.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10005145
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/article.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10005131
What did Hitler do near the end of the war?
How many defendants were charged during the Nuremberg Trials? What did they represent?
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/article.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10007143
What did the International Military Tribunal decide was not a legitimate defense?
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/article.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10007142
Assignment 3:Images of Night
Ghettos
Disease Ridden and Small
Housing, Starving, and Demoralizing
Like a narrow alley with thousands of rats and as an elephant in a small cardboard box
A crowded subway station during rush hour
Killing
In the middle of all the chaos